Grim Tales: Before the Burial
by Aros001
Summary: Grim loves his wife, he does, but he still fears her. He fears her because he knows her and he doesn't trust her because of what she hides. When one day Mandy accompanies him on another of Billy's transfers, Grim's life changes forever in ways only Mandy controls. My idea of a possible prequel to Grim Tales From Down Below.
1. The Carriage

**I own no rights to ****The Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy****, nor am I affiliated with ****Grim Tales**** by Bleedman. This fanfic was inspired by his AMAZING series (my childhood set on awesome!) and is meant to be an homage to it and hopefully not a rip-off.**

**Most of these will be some ideas of what I think could have happened before ****Grim Tales: From Down Below****, mainly in regards to the events around Grim Jr and Minimandy's births. It's like a prequel, which is why it's called ****Before the Burial**** (Get it? Down Below? Burial? Ok.).**

**Part 1: The Carriage**

Grim paced around impatiently in the hallway waiting for his wife to exit the bathroom. He checked his sundial watch, sighing heavily knowing he'd have been long gone already if Mandy hadn't declared that she was coming with him.

"_The one thing for Mandy to have in common with normal women and it had to be taking forever in the bathroom."_ Grim thought to himself.

Once again Grim had to deal with the matter of Billy. With both Heaven and Hell wanting nothing to do with him, Billy's soul was moved from realm to realm, with no one being able to put up with him for very long. His most recent home, Walker's prison in the Ghost Zone, fared no better than the others, as Grim had received a letter from Walker himself, demanding (and later begging) that Grim come and take Billy somewhere else.

After telling Mandy where he was going, she decided she was coming with too. She claimed she wished to see how efficient Walker's prison was, as it could serve as a good holding place for her enemies until she decided what to do with them. But Grim knew the truth. Deep, deep, DEEP down inside she felt nostalgic for old times. Billy was probably the only person in all of existence that was Mandy's true friend and despite never wanting that kind of bond with anyone, she still had it (and the fact that Billy never noticed that he was dead or that Mandy was in her mid-twenties meant it was just like old times for all of them).

Finally Mandy emerged from the bathroom. "What do you do in there that takes so long?" Grim asked.

"Reading."

Grim shot her a look. "You couldn't just do that another time?"

"You have your make-up time, I have my reading time. I don't get mine and you don't get yours." She stated. Grim quickly shut-up about it, his "me" time in jeopardy (have to keep the old bones looking fresh, you know).

"Well, now that you're ready, I'll open the portal-"

"No."

Grim stopped and looked at her confused. "No?" He asked.

"No, we're taking the Carriage."

If Grim had a heart it would have sunk deep into his chest. "T-th-the Carriage?" He sputtered out.

"Is that a problem?" She asked, coldly staring at him.

Snapping to attention, Grim said "Problem?! No! No! No problem at all! I'll go and have Pain get it ready!" And then he quickly made his exit.

"_Why?! Why the Carriage?!"_

The Carriage looked the same as any carriage you'd find in old Victorian London, only a lot more black and driven by two burning horses. It ferried its travelers from one dimension to the next until they reach their destination. It takes longer than a scythe portal but the views more than make up for it. All in all the Carriage rides were actually quite relaxing. But it wasn't the Carriage that Grim was nervous about.

Whenever Mandy had them ride in the Carriage it was because she had something to discuss with him and it was never anything good. Previous talks included the extinction of the Thundercats because "the sword would look good in my vault" and reawakening Trigon "because I have some ideas of how he could prove useful to me" and enslaving all figure skaters because "do I need a reason?". Grim couldn't use his scythe freely in the Carriage and he couldn't jump out during a multi-dimensional road trip. In that Carriage he had no possible escape and all of Mandy's undivided attention (_"I love me wife. I do. But she still scares the ever-loving crap out of me!"_). She could get him to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted anyway. The Carriage just made it go faster and feel worse for him.

Once Pain finished readying the Carriage, he opened the door so that his masters could enter. Grim and Mandy entered and sat down on opposite sides. After giving Grim and Mandy fresh cups of coffee, Pain sat into the driver's seat and commanded the horses to take them on their way.

Mandy sat sipping her drink and quietly looking out the window. Grim stared into his drink, just waiting for Mandy to end the torment and tell him what new monstrous act she was about to force him to commit with her.

After about 10 minutes of silence Grim was about to take a drink when Mandy finally spoke.

"Grim, I take it you remember the day you asked me to marry you." She said.

"It's a day I'm never likely to forget, M'dear." Grim said, lowering his cup. "If I recall correctly I nearly gave your secretary a heart attack when she saw me."

"She had it worse at her last job."

"So I've heard." Grim said, deciding to get back on topic. "So what about that day do you want to talk about?"

"It occurred to me recently that you never answered my question." She said.

Grim looked at her, puzzled, racking his brain trying to remember what she'd asked him.

Mandy reminded him. "I told you that I hate kids, but then I asked you how'd it even work for us to have kids. You said we'd discuss it later and never spoke of it again." She stared at him menacingly. "You haven't been avoiding the question, have you Grim?"

Fearing Mandy's accusation Grim quickly denied it. "NO! I mean…you said you hated kids, so I figured you really didn't care about how we'd be able to have any."

"I always care when it comes to what I don't yet know." Mandy said. "Knowledge is power and even the smallest scrap of information can have its uses. Besides, I don't like the idea of anything being keep secret from me."

Grim, realizing that there was no avoiding Mandy's question, decided he'd better tell her. At least this way she wouldn't falsely accuse him of forcibly impregnating her again, like she had when she laid that giant egg (damn space chickens).

"Well, for skeletons, creating a kid is actually pretty simple." Grim explained. "You just take bones from both parents and piece them together until you get a nice little kid skeleton, minus the skull of course, that needs about 9 months to grow onto the body.

Mandy was skeptical of this 'bones and the bees talk'. "I've met both your parents. They weren't missing half their bones last I checked." She pointed out.

"Skeleton bones grow back over time, Mandy. Didn't you ever notice that even after all the times you and Billy broke my bones or made me explode that eventually I'd come back together just fine?"

"Honestly, as long as you could still do the dishes I didn't care." Mandy stated bluntly, Grim grumbling under his breath. "So, that's how you have kids?"

Grim looked a little sullen. "Well, no actually." He said. "That's how skeletons have kids. I, myself, am a different story."

Mandy raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

Grim sighed. "Well, I can't have kids because…well…I'm death. I can't give life, I can only take it."

"What about the time you brought Billy's Dinobinoids to life, or that time you brought to life that watermelon Billy dressed up to look like me?" Mandy asked.

"They weren't truly alive, just animated, with personalities based on something that already exists, like the Dinobinoid's TV show."

"Are you trying to claim that little freak was based on my personality?" Mandy angrily said more than asked.

"Well, no, that was just meant to terrorize Billy." Grim said, his laughter echoing throughout the small space of the Carriage.

Mandy thought about what her husband said for a moment, then questioned him again. "There's something I've been wondering about Death for a long time actually." She said, causing Grim to stop laughing and pay attention. "When I was a child you made it sound like being the Grim Reaper was hereditary, but the Spider Queen made it clear that you were elected into the job. You know better than to lie to me so I'm curious as to how both those things could be true."

Grim always believed she'd eventually ask this, so he was a bit more calm when answering. "Well Mandy, the powers of the Reaper are both hereditary and elected." Grim explained. "Now Death can't have kids the normal way but it is possible to sire an heir to be another Reaper and that person would basically be like their child. The person they sired would become the Grim Reaper after them, and so on until that line comes to an end. Once that happens the title becomes open for election."

Mandy had been sitting quietly, absorbing all this new knowledge. "So what happened to the Grim Reaper before you?"

"His time simply came and he never wanted any heirs I suppose."

_His time simply came…_ "His hourglass ran out, you mean?" Mandy asked.

"Yep, as mine will too, eventually."

Mandy remembered Grim's hourglass well. It was far larger than any of the others and used black sand. But what she'd noticed the most about it was that barely any sand had fallen from it. Grim had existed since the dinosaurs, but if that amount of time was represented accurately by the sand, then Grim still had several eons left.

"I don't suppose you can add more sand to your hourglass."

"Certainly not! No one can open up or destroy the Grim Reaper's hourglass. Death needs to exist and Death needs to move on. Besides, from what I understand the past Reaper's grew bored of life and death after a while and couldn't wait for the sands to run out."

Mandy pondered this for a while, Grim taking the time to finally enjoy his drink. _"So, Bonehead has a while left to go, but eventually he still has to go, and when he does the title of Death will be handed to some idiot monster elected by a bunch of middle-schoolers."_ The idea repulsed her.

"Grim, I've decided we're having a child." She stated.

Grim spat out his drink in surprise (thankfully hitting the window and not Mandy).

He supposed he should have seen this coming due to all of Mandy's baby questions, but…no, he couldn't have seen it coming! Mandy hates kids! She hates everyone!

"A…a…a child? A-are you sure, Mandy?" Grim asked nervously.

"Do you doubt I can handle it, Grim?"

"No, it's just that you don't…like kids…at all…ever."

"And you don't believe I'd feel differently about my own?"

"Honestly, no. In fact you might hate them even more if they don't turn out like you want (like most kids don't)."

Mandy showed no signs of being offended by this (thankfully). "Perhaps you're right, Grim. But after all this time I've managed to turn Death into a respected title again and I'm not just going to let some snot-nosed brat be elected into it by a group of other brats." Mandy said. "If we sire the next Grim Reaper, then I can at least personally make sure they're worthy of that title."

_"Not to mention have complete control over them."_ Grim thought to himself.

"So, Grim, how are we going to have a child?" Mandy asked, taking a drink. "I imagine we'd need the scythe and a sperm donor." Mandy said.

"…That, and a very open minded doctor." Grim said quietly.

"How open minded?" Mandy asked.

Grim looked to his feet in shame. "I told you that Death can't have kids the normal way." He explained. 'When the child is ready to be born, basically when your water breaks, we would have the child…the child…"

"Aborted." Mandy said, realizing where this was going.

Grim nodded his head. "There are things I'd be able to do with the scythe before and after…that…which will make our child into a reaper. His or her powers would awaken later on in their life. But it would only work if the child is…dead first."

A moment of silence pasted between the two before Mandy spoke. "I suppose this explains why you didn't pester me about having kids. Technically all aborted or still-born children are yours, aren't they? You have millions to deal with already."

Grim couldn't look her in the eye. She wasn't judging him and it wasn't like this was something he wanted, but for whatever reason he'd always felt deep shame over this part of his title. And this time he himself would be the one having the kid killed. He felt nauseous. He wasn't sure which was worse: what he and Mandy would have to do to have a child, or the fact that Mandy seemed completely unfazed by it.

"We'll start making preparations when we return to the castle." She said with no change in her expression.

Unsure of what else to talk about, Grim asked "So, uh, who do you think we should get as the donor?"

"I've got some ideas." She replied. Grim could see her mentally scrolling through a list of possible candidates. Grim wanted a say in who it'd be, but he knew that was not likely. Mandy was going to control this as much as possible, as she did everything else.

Finally the Carriage reached its destination. Pain let Mandy out first, who quickly began emasculating Walker, calling his prison the most pathetic little jail she'd ever seen, showing him what punishment and humiliation really means.

As Grim exited the Carriage he felt a massive uneasiness in his gut, a feeling he knew was going to last for several more months.


	2. A Grim Happiness

**A Grim happiness**

After nine months and two more prison transfers for Billy, the son of Grim and Mandy was unborn.

The process of turning the child into a future Reaper left him as a little skeleton baby, not that Grim minded, as it helped him think of the child as more of his own.

Despite carrying him for nine months Mandy had no affection for the child and told Grim to name him whatever he wanted, as she didn't really care. Grim, hoping the child would grow up to be like him (and not his mother), named his son Grim Jr.

The servants of Castle Grim were delighted to have the child around, always wanting to play with him when they were done with the work Mandy gave them (which she then started to pile on once she noticed they were slacking off in order to play with the baby). Lord Pain even did the unusual for him and baby-proofed parts of the castle, not wanting the offspring of his masters ever to be harmed.

After much debate Grim and Mandy decided to name her most trusted general, Nergal Jr, as Grim Jr's godfather, for the sole reason of him being one of the few competent beings they knew. Despite this small reason, Nergal Jr was overjoyed to be a godfather. So much so that he even altered his appearance to be more like that of the coolest man he'd ever known, in hopes that his godson would idolize him just as much (Grim didn't have the heart to tell him what Mr. Bravo was really like).

While everything was well and good in Castle Grim, there was one thing that happened that no one could have predicted.

Grim Jr absolutely adored his mother.

It was the damnedest thing. Whenever he cried, if Mandy entered the room, he'd stop crying, crack a big smile on his boney little baby face and stretch out his arms at her in hopes that she'd pick him up. Sometimes she was the only one who could get him to sleep, just by rocking the child in her arms for a little while.

No one could explain it. Mandy never showed any love for him. She'd always hand Jr off to one of the servants and go off somewhere else. She never fed him, clothed him, changed his diapers (thankful due to him being a skeleton there weren't that many of them), or showed any real interest in him whatsoever. But he adored her nonetheless.

Grim figured he was just too young to realize he should be terrified of her. But he'd figure it out some day so no one was too worried (though Grim liked to think it threw Mandy off a bit, to have something that loved her unconditionally that she couldn't threaten or scare).

Grim himself had never felt so content in all his life. After years of torment he'd finally found happiness. He had servants at his beck and call. He had the greatest job in all the underworld. He had a (loving? devoted? presentable? punctual?) wife. And the son he'd always wanted who would one day inherit his throne. Grim was the happiest he'd ever been.

He should have known it wasn't to last.

…

Months later Grim began to notice that his wife was getting a bit bigger. He didn't think much of it at first, believing it was just one of those "I'm already married so there's no reason to watch my figure" kind of deals. But as time went on he noticed that her growing stomach was a bit too rounded to be just body fat.

Curiosity finally getting the better of him he finally confronted Mandy in her study.

"Mandy, M'dear. Can I ask you something?" Grim asked as he approached his wife whom was reading in an armchair.

Not glancing up from her book she said "You're going to anyway."

Grim wasn't quite sure how to phrase his question. "Well, over the past few months you've…uh…started to look a bit like…how you did when you were carrying Jr…and…uh…well-"

"That's because I'm pregnant." Mandy said, tired of waiting for him to get to the point.

Even though this answer had occurred to Grim he still had trouble believing it. "But how did that…? I mean we didn't…And you…"

"I commissioned Nergal Jr to impregnate me months ago." Mandy said, sounding as though she was already bored of their conversation.

It took Grim a moment to process what his wife had just so bluntly told him. And when it finally got through…

"You. Did. WHAT?!" Grim roared at her, flames erupting from his eyes and behind him. Mandy barely glanced up from her book to see this, making a note to herself to have the servants clean up the soot later.

Grim's rage overshadowed his fear of his wife and he continued to yell at her. "HOW?! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DONE FOR YOU!"

Mandy had only ever feared Grim once in her life. There was never going to be a second. "I decided I wanted another child." Mandy said calmly, still reading. "Given that you can't have kids I didn't see the point in telling you right away. I thought you would have figured it out earlier than this though."

Grim, still fuming, said "But this will be different than it was for Grim Jr! It's too far into the pregnancy for the child to become a Reaper!"

"We already have a child who will become a Reaper. What's the point in having another just like him?" Mandy pointed out.

"So you'd rather have some slimy little quarter-Nergal demon?!"

"I'm curious as to how it'll turn out." Mandy said, ending the conversation.

Grim had never been angrier in all his years than he was at that very moment. But even though his fear had been forgotten in his rage, his wits had not. He wasn't stupid enough to attack Mandy on the spot. One thing he made sure never to forget was that Mandy was the same little monster he'd always known and was resourceful enough to strike down anyone anytime she wanted, including him.

But something was going to suffer his wrath.

"Where is that little four-eyed freak?! I'm going to tear every single limb from his body and feed them all to that stupid dog of ours!"

"No, you won't." Mandy said.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't!" Grim yelled.

"Because I said so." Mandy's stare burning across the top of the book, drilling deep into Grim's core. "I still have use for him. When the day comes I no longer need him you are free to do whatever you want. But until then you make no moves against him without my say-so."

Grim then proceeded to utter every single curse word he'd ever known. Not necessarily directed at Mandy but more everything in general. After about five minutes of this Mandy finally grew fed up with it and closed her book.

"Grim, instead of whining about what a terrible situation you're in, why don't you just deal with the problem directly?" she said.

"You just told me not to go after Nergal Jr!" Grim said.

"I wasn't talking about him."

It took Grim a moment to catch her meaning. Then to his horror he realized she was talking about the child.

Seeing that Grim had caught on, Mandy explained. "If you have such a damn problem with the child, then be a man and take care of it. Otherwise you have no right to complain."

Grim couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure in his rage he'd thought about it for the briefest of moments, but to actually hear it suggested…Grim had only ever personally killed a baby once and that was Grim Jr. But that situation was completely different from this one. There would be no becoming a Reaper afterwards for this child. They'd simply be dead.

But still…

Grim grasped his scythe with both hands and lifted it up high, the blade aimed at Mandy's extended stomach. Mandy's face showed no change in expression, her eyes still locked together with Grim's.

Mandy was immortal, so if he committed this act she would be fine. But the scythe would destroy her womb to the point where she'd never be able to do this to him again. But she didn't seem like she was going to make any move to defend her unborn child.

"_Does she not think I'll be able to do it? Or does she just not care?!"_

The scythe trembled in his hands for the longest time, until he finally made his decision.

…and lowered the scythe slowly.

…and left the room.

…defeated.


	3. Halloween

**Halloween:**

Once, a long time ago, Mandy had asked Grim to prove that Santa Claus was real. So Grim took her to the North Pole, and while they all nearly lost their lives during that adventure, the whole experience had sparked a curiosity in Mandy. Throughout the years she questioned him about the existences of all the holiday folklore creatures that she'd long assumed to be made-up. They'd saved the Easter bunny from poachers, defeated Irwin when he stole Cupid's arrows, and even aided the Leprechauns in their endless war against the unicorns; one of the final adventures they'd had with Billy.

Mandy had run down the list until only one holiday remained: Halloween. Something Grim was all too happy to show her.

On the latest of Halloween nights, Grim took his family to Halloweentown.

Mandy walked alongside Grim as Lord Pain pushed the stroller, containing the roughly year old Grim Jr and his newborn sister, Minimandy.

As they went through Mandy had her same neutral expression, but Grim could tell she found Halloweentown pleasant. It was a place that celebrated horror and terror, which is what made Halloween one of the few holidays she liked.

Though most of the usual things jumped out to scare the family, the majority of the townsfolk were gathered at the cornfield outside of the town. When they went to the cornfield as well they saw that a single stalk was burning, which soon spread to the rest of the field, lighting the whole thing ablaze. And the fire grew bigger. And bigger. And bigger. And then grew a giant face, which roared at the crowd, causing several screams of terror. The monstrous head continued to grow until at last it reached its full height and all the flames crashed into the ground, revealing the burning scarecrows, all with the scariest faces that could be put on them. And in the center of it all was a tall burning man, whose echoing banshee laugher stretched through the crowd and inserted the final nail of fear into their hearts.

"EYAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

The crowd had been screaming in terror. And when they were done they started cheering. The flames went out and the scarecrows and their ringmaster took a bow. Their ringmaster: the legendary Jack Skellington.

"Thank you! Thank you everyone! Because of you, we've managed to make this Halloween even more terrible than the last! And now, I'd like you all to meet this year's very special guests. My brother Grim and his queen Mandy!"

The crowd all clamored over to the Grim family in excitement. Many had paid homage to the Reaper in past Halloweens but they'd never thought they'd ever met him in person (on a non-business related occasion). The Grim brothers walked up to each other and hugged it out.

"Grim, it's so good to see you again after all these years." Jack said, breaking away from the hug.

"You too, Jack. What's it been? 10 years? 20?" Grim replied.

"Closer to 100, actually, but who's counting?" Jack kid his brother. Walking over to Mandy he grasped her hand and bowed his head. "Your highness, it is an honor to finally meet you."

"Likewise, Pumpkin King. Grim has told me much about your reputation. Though he failed to mention you were brothers." Mandy said, casting a sharp stare at Grim.

Grim chuckled nervously. "Sorry, M'dear, but I wanted it to be a surprise. After all it's not every day you get to tell someone you're related to royalty." Once again Mandy questioned the system of the Underworld. Grim was made Death through a middle school election, Jack was made a king because he could scare people.

"And these must be your children! Grim's talked about them so much in his letters (well, mainly Junior) but finally getting to meet my niece and nephew is another thing entirely." Towering Jack Skellington knelt down to be at eye level with the children. Junior hid himself under his blanket, completely freaked out by tall man. Minnie continued to suck on her pacifier unfazed, too young to understand what was happening around her.

"I'm so glad you all could make it this year." Jack said, standing back up. "The town's about to have the after-party in the town hall soon. We can catch up there."

…

The after-party was mainly all the townsfolk just gathered together, eating and talking about the great scares of the years and what could next year possibly do to top it. The monsters all fawned over the Grim children, as children were very rarely born in Halloweentown. The only thing that prevented Junior from sobbing in terror was hiding behind his mother and holding onto her, not wanting to be apart from her in the unfamiliar place. The mayor, having heard that Mandy used to be mayor of Megaville, asked her about her term there, eager to compare notes (and boy was he sorry he asked). And the Grim brothers were off in a corner table, drinking and catching up on all the years they missed.

"So mom's still trapped in that lamp?" Jack asked.

"Yep." Grim said taking a drink. "Remember when all those people vanished from the face of the Earth? That was her."

"Really? I always wondered about that."

"Yeah, it took us forever to get back from that dimension. Thankfully no one ever asked too many questions about it."

"Ever think we should try to get her out?"

"I consider it ever now and then. But then I remember that she still has the cane."

Jack shuttered at the name. "Oh, the cane. I remember that all too well. People think we're naturally this tall. They don't realize how much the vertebrae stretch when you're hit by that thing."

"Oh yeah. Dad agrees with me. Give it another hundred years until it goes away."

"The cane or mom?"

"Either works."

Both Jack and Grim laughed hard at the joke, their mix of deep echoing and crackling scaring the daylights out of most of the partygoers. After a minute Jack wiped a tear from his eye socket and said "Ah, Grim, I missed this. Honestly, why did you never come to visit for so many years?"

Grim looked into his drink. "Well…honestly, I was a little embarrassed. I mean the thing with Jack O' Lantern I'm pretty ashamed of. He kinda ruined your holiday several times and tricked people into thinking he was you."

"Grim, you know I never blamed you for that. He tricked you into giving him immortality, but all he did was play pranks. It would have been a lot worse if he'd kept the scythe." Jack told him. "Besides, O' Lantern is in the Underworld now and believe me, he knows who the real Pumpkin king is." He added that last part almost gleefully.

"Yeah, but even beyond that, being enslaved into eternal servitude by two 10-year old little monsters is not something one brags to the family about." Grim said. "Believe me, I didn't want mom and dad finding out about it."

"I suppose you're right." Jack said. "But it seems to have all worked out in the end. One of those monsters became your lovely wife and she gave you two adorable children. Heck, when they become 10-year old little monsters, I imagine you'll have a much better time with them than you did Billy and Mandy."

"Well, I have servants now so that'll certainly make things easier." Grim said, he and his brother clacking their drinks together. ("To servants! Long may they pick up Cerberus's droppings!")

Jack took a drink and then continued talking. "That reminds me, Grim. In your letters you went on and on about Grim Jr. I feel like I know him already. But you hardly ever mentioned Minnie. I'd like to know a little bit about my niece. How are things going with her? I mean she isn't a skeleton like you, me, or Junior. How'd you find a way around that?"

Grim looked at him sullenly for a moment before answering. "If it's all the same to you Jack, I'd really rather not talk about it."

Seeing that his brother was clearly upset by something, Jack decided to drop it. "No problem, Grim. We'll have plenty of other times, no need to get it all out right now."

Grim appreciated his brother's understanding. "Thank you. Besides, we've talked enough about me. What's new with you? Don't think I haven't noticed that redhead eyeing you from across the room." Grim said slyly. Jack looked over to where Grim was pointing, to the tall stitched together redheaded woman, who quickly looked away blushing when she realized Jack was looking at her.

"Oh, that's Sally! Dr. Finkelstein's latest creation." Jack said, turning back to Grim.

"That duck guy with removable brain?"

"Not how I'd describe him but yes."

Grim looked back to Sally, who was doing her best to hide her face. "I think she's got the hots for you." Grim said, nudging Jack with his elbow.

"No, it couldn't be. Dr. Finkelstein made her to be his ideal bride. I doubt she's interested in anyone but him."

"I'm just calling 'em like I see 'em, man." Grim said, taking another drink.

"Well, I appreciate that, Grim. But the fact of the matter is that I'm just too busy planning for the Halloweens. I barely have time for Zero, let alone anything else."

"I'm telling you, man, you're going to burn yourself out on Halloween if you don't get something else in your life. I'd have been sick of reaping a long time ago if I wasn't able to use it as an escape."

"Well that doesn't seem to be a problem anytime soon." Jack stated. "However I am actually pulling in some outside help for next Halloween. We've decided to go with a more 'creepy-crawly' theme and I called up just the person to help with that."

"Who?" Grim asked.

At that very moment a scream was heard. Grim and Jack (who had a smile on his face) both looked over. Hundreds of large spiders were descending from the ceiling, landing on people and getting everywhere. Grim Jr cowered behind Mandy, whom the spiders knew damn well not to approach, while Minimandy kept poking one of them in the eyes out of curiosity.

And in the chaos of spiders emerged their queen, with the lower half of a spider and the upper half of a woman. A woman Grim knew very well.

"Velma!" Grim yelled ecstatically as he ran over to meet his old friend.

They hugged, Velma lifting him up well over her head (spider strength and whatnot). "Grim, darling! How lovely to see you again!"

Jack walked over to them. "As soon as you told me you were coming over I called Velma and asked her to swing by." Jack told him as Velma put him down. Jack then addressed the crowd. "Now remember everyone, this is just a small taste of what's to come next year, so look forward to it!"

The party resumed shortly after, everyone excitedly talking about what Jack will do next year with the spiders.

"Kind of a dangerous move, letting them know what you're going to scare them with, Jack." Grim pointed out.

"I consider it more of a personal challenge." Jack said. "If I can get them to expect it and yet still find a way to scare them, then it feels more like a Halloween well done."

Mandy walked over to the group. "I see your banishment has run out." She said to Velma.

"Yes, well, 10 years tends to fly by rather quickly went one is sent to the other end of the galaxy." Velma said. "But it wasn't so bad. I found a few new planets to conquer in order to kill time. Frankly, my only real regret over my banishment is that I missed your wedding."

"There wasn't a wedding." Mandy said.

_"Though there was quite the honeymoon."_ Grim thought to himself.

Velma Green was probably the only person from Grim's old life that Mandy had any respect for, mainly because they shared similar ideals of vengeance and conquest. Heck, Velma nearly had conquered the Earth years ago until Megaville stepped in, which lead to their heroes banishing Velma to the stars for 100 years (which was later reduced to 10 for good behavior (she was one of the nicest world conquerors they'd ever fought)).

"And these must be your children." Velma said taking notice of them. "Oh, the boy's so cute! He looks just like you, Grim." Grim Jr clung to his mother's leg in absolute terror of the massive spider-woman eyeing him. Mandy patted him lightly on the head to help calm him down.

"Well, whether he'll be anything like his father remains to be seen." Mandy commented.

"I suppose they could take more after you. Your daughter certainly seems like she already takes more after you than Grim."

Grim was thankfully spared from any awkward thoughts by Mandy's cellphone going off. Mandy walked away to answer it and Grim quickly changed the subject.

"Well Jack, you won't be disappointed that you asked Velma for help." He said. "You should have seen what she did to Endsville when her wedding was called off. The whole town wet their pants for weeks afterwards just thinking about it!"

"It was turning the school into a spider castle that really won me over. That was a work of art!" Jack said.

Velma was flattered. "Oh, that was nothing, really. Though I'll admit I was surprised when you called. I've never really done consulting work before. I'm surprised you didn't ask a more well-versed expert of creepy-crawlies for advice, like Oogie Boogie."

Velma did not know how wrong of a thing she'd just said and Grim was quick to make the "Ix-nay" motion with his hand. But it was too late.

Jack grumbled furiously. "Don't mention that loathsome creature's name around me! His ideas of scaring are some of the most sick and appalling I've ever heard! He actually tortures people in order to get them to scream! He completely ruins what this holiday is supposed to be about!"

Velma was scared for a moment. The Pumpkin king was usually fun and even-tempered. Barely anyone was ever seen him truly angry. "I'm sorry, Jack, I didn't know your guys' history."

Jack calmed down. "No, it's alright. It's just that he gets to me so much. I just know some day he's going to go too far and we'll never be able to repair the damage."

"Between you and Grim I'd almost think Boogies are your natural enemies." Velma said. "Any relation to the Boogie who used to bully Grim?"

"No, but I've heard they work together from time to time. Similar ideals and all." Jack said.

"Yeah, but even after the whooping I gave him during Horror's Hand, if I never see Boogie again it'll be too soon." Grim said, remembering the years of abuse at Boogie's hand.

Mandy then returned from her phone call, sighing. "Grim, we need to go home. Skeletor is attacking the castle."

"Again?"

Mandy nodded, agreeing with his annoyance.

"Reap the soul of a man's archenemy ONE time and he never lets it go." Grim said. He then turned to Jack and Velma. "I'm sorry we have to go. We were having such a great time."

Jack patted Grim on the back. "Don't worry about it, Grim. There'll be plenty of other times to come over. Just make sure to bring the kids again. They probably won't remember this trip when they get older."

"It's a deal." Grim said, shaking his brother's hand. Velma then handed Grim a slip of paper. "What's this?"

"That is my personal number, Grim." Velma said. "When you're done with your whole Skeletor business, give me a call. We'll go out for drinks and catch up."

"Uh…sure! No problem." Grim said, as he'd not been expecting something like this.

All of Halloweentown waved the Grim family off as they left. Grim could have sworn Mandy gave him a funny look when he slipped Velma's number into his pockets, but it happened so fast that Grim assumed he imagined it.

One quick slash of the scythe and they made their way home.

**So apparently I believe ****The Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy**** takes place well before ****The Nightmare before Christmas**** timeline-wise. Weird.**


	4. Restlessness Part 1

**Restlessness: Part 1**

_"Calm down, old boy. It's just drinks with an old friend."_ Grim told himself for the hundredth time as he sat waiting in the booth.

Grim had wasted no time calling up Velma once they'd kicked Skeletor out of the castle. Perhaps he had acted a little too quickly, but he hadn't seen her in years and thought nothing of it at the time. But as the days counted down to when he and Velma set the date Grim began to fell more and more uneasy about it. More and more often his thoughts would drift off to her. So much so that Grim was getting worried, questioning what he thought was going to happen. They were only meeting to catch up on all the years they'd missed because of the Reaper Election misunderstanding. That's it.

At least that's what Grim kept telling himself. But when he'd called Velma she suggested that they go to Moe's Tavern, a little bar in the Underworld owned by a man everyone thought was a troll (only Grim knew the truth because he'd reaped the man's soul), where the clientele of the bar were so apathetic that they wouldn't give a damn about Death and the Spider-Queen visiting them, so Grim and Velma would be about to talk without being swarmed by admirers. Grim said it sounded like a great idea and Velma said "It's a date then."

That's when everything snowballed in Grim's head. He'd laughed it off a first. It was just a tired cliché that he was sure Velma was just using to poke fun at him a little bit, given how quickly he called. But the idea kept rattling around in his head and he couldn't get it out no matter how hard he tried. He kept thinking back to her pale skin, her black fluffy hair, the eight legs that went all the way up (whoa momma!).

Almost like she could read his mind Mandy would occasionally snap Grim out of his daydreams by asking what he was smiling about. He'd say was just remembering a soul he'd recently captured who thought he could get away from him or some other little lie like that. Mandy's expression always told him that she didn't buy it, but she never questioned him about it. When the day finally came that Grim was going to meet Velma, Mandy had said nothing other than don't get home too late ("I don't want Cerberus' barking to wake up the castle again.")

Grim had arrived a little early and had been nervously clutching his glass for the past five minutes. He couldn't understand what was wrong with him. Sure, when they were kids he did have a small crush on Velma, but so do a lot of male/female best friends and they grow out of it. Usually... And besides, he was married with a son (and a little quarter demon baby girl that was the product of Mandy screwing tentacle-nerd stupid-face Jr! (but that's beside the point)). Nothing was going to happen between him and Velma because he wasn't that kind of person. Right?

…Right?

_"Calm down, old boy. It's just drinks with an old-"_

"Oh, Grim! There you are." Said Velma as she finally spotted him across the bar.

As she made her way across the bar to get to his booth, Grim sat it awe of her appearance. She looked the same as ever, possibly worse given the bar's lighting, but a week of fantasizing has ways of messing with a man's head, and in his eye sockets she was positively glowing, her body being perfectly outlined and shaped beneath her royal outfit.

_"…I'm doomed."_

"I hope you weren't waiting too long." Velma said as she sat down.

"Uh…no…I…just I…got here…maybe five…not too long." Grim said nervously, not wanting to accidentally slip up. "H-how have you been?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Though I recently made an attempt to take over New York, but that didn't go well." Velma said.

"Superheroes?"

"Superheroes."

"Yeah, I've had to deal with a good number of them for some time now." Grim said. "I've even had repeats. I don't get how they have such a hard time of grasping the concept of staying dead. Makes a mockery of me job."

"Sounds like you need to get a better handle on them." Velma said. "If there's one thing I've learned in life is if you want something, just grab them, squeeze them, and don't let go."

_"DAMN YOU, DOUBLE MEANINGS!"_ Grim thought loudly as his imagination embarrassed him enough to make him look away from her.

Velma talked more of her attempted takeover until she took notice of Grim's quietness. "Grim, is everything alright? You seem a bit tight-lipped tonight."

Grim thought up a lie quick, as he was certainly not about to reveal his rather risqué thoughts. "Oh, it's nothing, really. Just reaping and parenting all day leaves one rather stiff, that's all."

"Wow. I remember playing limbo and Twister with you as kids. I don't think I ever could've imagined you as stiff."

"Oh, yeah, I remember Twister with you." _"Boy, do I remember Twister with you."_ "You beat me most of the time because of the 'leg advantage', I believe we call it."

"Yeah, but nearly every time the spinner landed on a hand I fell over on time of you."

Never had Grim been so thankful that he didn't have skin to blush with. "Yeah…g-good t-times."

Velma looked at him quizzically. "Maybe you need some more to drink. That'll help you loosen up. What have you got there?" She said, pointing to his glass.

"Oh, this? This is just some cyanide, my drink of choice. Though this stuff is so watered down I doubt anyone could get a buzz after a hundred of 'em." Grim said, giving the bartender a look, who simply shrugged it off.

"Well, tell you what Grim…" Velma said. "I've match however much you drink to help you feel more comfortable. I have a natural tolerance to poisons and alcohols so I'll be able to go as far as you do."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Grim asked.

Velma shrugged. "I just want to be able to talk normally with my friend again."

Unable to say no to those eyes, Grim said "Well…I suppose one or two more wouldn't hurt…"

…**98 bottles of cyanide later…**

"…and so then he says "Leaf me alone, I'm bushed.""

"PFFHAHAHAHAHA!"

The extra drinks had certainly helped Grim loosen up, as he and Velma had spent the last hour talking, telling jokes, and singing everything from _Bohemian Rhapsody_ to the _Popeye_ theme, the last at such volume that the bartender threatened to kick them out, to which Velma responded by webbing him to the ceiling (so needless to say the drinks were on the house).

Grim wiped a tear from his eye socket. "I swear that joke gets better every time I hear it."

"Yeah. I didn't expect Jeff to know such a great joke. It was a riot during the invasion." Velma said.

"I can't believe you two managed to stay such good friends even after he called off your wedding." Grim said. "I'd have thought you'd be enraged."

"Well…I was for a while there. I even planned on eating him one leg at a time, making him watch the whole thing while he was still alive. But he's just so…"

"Jeff?"

"Exactly! It's impossible to stay mad at someone like that!" Velma said, laughing a bit. "He's just so nice! We patched things up a while ago and he even comes over from time to time while babysitting Blossom's kid. She loves playing with my minions."

_"Not surprising, given her father."_ Grim thought to himself. "It's still a shame you broke up. I liked you two together."

"Yeah, well, it happens. Besides, I can understand why he did it. In the end he's still a child who wants the love of his father."

Grim chuckled. "Funny thing about that. Jeff was going to kick the bucket years ago after laying his eggs. It was only because his love for his father tormented Billy so much that I extended his stay. If I hadn't kept him alive, you two would not have met and you wouldn't have sought me out on your wedding day. Our misunderstanding might still be in place if it hadn't been for Jeff."

"Fate can be a funny thing sometimes." Velma said smiling.

"Trust me, fate had nothing to do with it." Grim said.

"YOU don't believe in fate?" Velma asked.

"No, I know fate exists. I've met the old bats. I'm saying their rule no longer applies because Mandy killed them."

Velma just looked at him for a moment until she finally broke and started laughing, though she knew Grim wasn't joking. "Your wife killed the fates?"

Velma's laughed was infectious and it got to Grim too. "Right after we got married. As soon as she started taking power, they were some of the first she targeted." Grim explain giddily. "She never did like the idea of anyone having power over her. Killed the first two easily. Took her a while to track down the third because she had the eye. Months later Mandy shot her right through it! I'm actually a little miffed I wasn't there to see it. I mean that's history right there."

It was now Velma's turn to force herself to calm down and wipe the tear of laughter from her eye. "Oh my God, Grim. Between you, the ruler of Death, and your wife, the unstoppable conqueror, I can only imagine what your kids are going to be like when they grow up. I mean, Junior is next in line for your title and Minnie seems like she could be a combination of you and Mandy-"

"Minnie's not my daughter."

Velma paused for a moment, sure that she'd misheard him. "…What?"

"Minnie's not my daughter." Grim repeated, taking a rather long, sullen drink. "She's Nergal Jr's. Mandy had an affair with him soon after our son was born."

Velma just sat there for a moment in shock as Grim watched the liquid in his glass. "Oh…oh Grim…I'm so sorry. Does she…does she know you know?"

"She never bothered to hide it." Grim said quietly. "I mean, how could she hide it? It's a baby. And I sure can't give her one. She only needed me the first time because she needed him to be a Reaper. Beyond that, what good am I?"

Velma grasped his hand, trying to find some way to comfort him. Grim continued on, sounding like he was on the verge of crying. "You know, you actually have got to admire it in a way. She wanted a child, so she went out and got one. Directness. That's one of her best qualities."

Velma couldn't stand the sight of her oldest friend tearing himself up inside. "How could she do this to you?" She asked. "Doesn't she love you enough to care what this is doing to you?"

"LOVE ME? Hahahahaha! It's Mandy! She doesn't love anything! Not me, not the kids, certainly not Nergal Jr. We're all just her little pawns, meant only to help get her what she wants until the day she no longer needs us and finally puts us out of our misery. The only reason she married me is because she stays immortal then."

Grim continued to drunkenly laugh about his situation as his laughter slowly turned to sobbing. Velma's rage grew at the same pace. Finally she stood up. "Grim, open a portal to Castle Grimskull." She commanded. "We are going to confront your wife about this right now!"

Grim quickly stood up and grabbed her arm to pull her back. "NO! You can't do that! You don't stand a chance against Mandy!"

"I'm not just going to stand by while she destroys your life. You can't just stay with her out of fear!"

"I'm not with her out of fear, and this isn't something that we can just confront her about. Trust me, I tried!"

"Why are you so compliant to letting Mandy control you like this?!"

"Why are you so gung-ho to go fighting her over this?!"

"Because I…!" Velma started to say but stopped before she could finish, the words caught in her throat. Neither had realized how close together they'd gotten until this very moment. Grim went wide-eyed when he realized what she was going to say.

"You were…"

"Yeah…"

"But I also…"

"You do…?"

"Yeah…"

The distance between the two slowly closed until finally lip met bone and the two kissed, Velma pushing Grim into the booth and it became more intense.

Grim couldn't believe what was happening. Velma Green, his best friend, and the woman he'd wanted since middle school, was in his arms and him in hers. She was pushing against him, begging him to take her. He could have her. They both wanted this and there was nothing to stop them. It felt very, very right.

…And very, very wrong.

Grim pushed Velma slowly away from him. She looked at him confused. "I…I can't do this to her." Grim finally said. "I can't cheat on my wife."

"Even after everything she's done to you?"

Grim was silent for a moment until he finally found his answer. "I don't know why. She probably wouldn't care so long as I'm still at her disposal. She may even think that's what we're doing right now. But I…I just can't do it."

Velma slowly got off him, looking slightly hurt that Grim would still choose Mandy over her. "I'm…I'm sorry, Velma. I really am. I don't know-"

"Stop." Velma said, holding up her hand to interrupt him. "You shouldn't have to apologize for not cheating on your wife. I may not get it, but I can at least respect it."

As Velma teared up she looked away from Grim, not letting him see her face. Grim placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as she did for him earlier.

"Velma…if you promise not to confront Mandy, then I promise I'll figure something out for my situation with her."

Velma dried her eyes and looked back at him. "That's all I ask."

The queen and the Reaper hugged, both hoping that at least their friendship would still remain. When the two finally parted, Grim picked up the last bottle of cyanide and chuckled softly. "I guess this stuff is more effective than I thought."

"Well, 98 bottles of anything is going to do something to ya."

"I suppose. Though to be honest this is still pretty weak stuff compared to what I'm used to." Grim said, downing the last, not wanting to waste it.

"See? Nothing to-ZZZ." Grim said as he passed out, hitting the table face-first with a loud smack.

Velma nudged him a few times until it became clear he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

Velma picked up the last bottle, now empty. "99. Still pretty impressive."


	5. Restlessness Part 2

**Restlessness: Part 2**

Grim was awoken by the large amount of coffee being dumped on his face.

"Hey, Death-boy, you mind sleeping somewhere else? Your snoring is disturbing my patrons." The bartender said.

Grim slowly pieced together his memory of where he was. "How long was I out?"

"A couple hours. It only really got to be a problem when you started interrupting _My Little War Horse_."

Grim started wiping the coffee off his face when he noticed that his scythe was webbed to his hand. _"Velma must have done that so no one would steal it again."_

"Where's Velma?"

"The spider-dame took off a few hours ago. She actually paid for your tab. Probably the first time I've been paid since I got here. That's a good friend you got there."

Grim had the scythe emit a bit of fire to get the webbing off. "Yeah. A really good friend."

Grim was about to open a portal home when he realized something. "Weren't you stuck to the ceiling?" he asked the bartender.

"Yeah, but I'm used to hanging from ceilings. They just don't do it for me anymore."

Grim recalled when he first met the man. "I suppose that's true." He said and opened his portal back home.

…

Grim exited into the living room of the castle. It was roughly around the middle of the night. Grim was careful not to alert Cerberus, who was patrolling somewhere in the castle, as he certainly wasn't going to be able to stand the barking right now.

"Oh…my head." Grim said as he clutched it.

"99 bottles of cheap cyanide will do that."

Grim leapt back from the voice out of the darkness. He was then momentarily blinded by the lamp being turned on, which, when his eyes adjusted, revealed Mandy sitting in an armchair.

"Mandy! You nearly scared me to me just now! Why are you sitting here alone in the dark?"

"I decided to wait for you to get home so we could…talk."

"Talk about what?" Grim's honest cluelessness causing Mandy some annoyance until it finally dawned on him.

"_99 bottles of…oh boy."_

Grim stood completely still in silence, fear griping him that if he made the slightest move Mandy would strike. She stared him down, her overwhelming aura crushing him, yet with the same neutral expression that Grim could never read. Unable to take it anymore Grim finally asked "How did you find out so quickly?"

"My enemies have spies everywhere. It seems only reasonable that I should have a few of my own." Mandy stated calmly. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Grim?"

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't let me stew in my own guilt for a while?"

Mandy's temperament showed no signs of change. "Actually, that guilt is the reason why I told you." She said.

"R-really?"

"My spy was there for the entire thing. I know that you complained about Minnie not being your daughter and then you bawling over how _unfair_ I've treated you. Given how drunk you were I'm honestly surprised you didn't sleep with the first woman you've had a shot with in the last million years, just to get back at me."

"I be a man of my word." Grim said. "If my word's good enough to bind me to you and Billy over a game of limbo, then you can be damn sure a wedding vow is going to hold weight."

"You say that like it's something to be proud of, considering how often people have used that to take advantage of you." Mandy pointed out, obviously referring to O' Lantern, Boogie, and herself.

"Mandy, what do you want?!" Grim exclaimed, tired of the rising tension. "Do you want me to have actually cheated on you?"

Mandy continued her calm, unnerving demeanor. "No. I have my reasons for mating with Nergal Jr, but you would have done it simply for pleasure. Though I suppose your drunken mind could have also seen it as a way to possibly get some revenge against me. Either way, if you had done the deed I would have taken it…personally, shall we say, and would have given you and Velma a swift reminder of why no. One. Crosses. Me."

"_Gulp!"_ Grim braced himself.

"…But…you didn't, so I won't. You're off the hook, Bonehead."

It took Grim's brain a moment to process this. He felt like one did when a bullet just barely misses them and they have to check to make sure it actually missed as they can't believe it otherwise.

"So…you're not mad?" Grim asked carefully.

Mandy shook her head. "At you…no. Though I may need to have a word with the Spider Queen."

"Oh come on, Mandy, she's the only friend I have left from childhood!" Grim said, knowing full well what having a word with his wife meant.

"She's the only friend you have from childhood." Mandy corrected him. "And this isn't just about you, it's about respect. Not only did she try to steal my husband, but she also was going to fight me over it. I won't tolerate someone thinking they can show me such disrespect and get away with it."

"But she wasn't trying to disrespect you!" Grim tried to persuade her. "She'd had a little too much to drink and neither of us were in our right minds when it happened. And she backed off when I told her no and said nothing more about it. I even got her to promise not to go up against you! She made a deal with Death! You know how binding that is!"

Mandy sat in her chair, quietly pondering, causing Grim to sweat bullets until she broke the silence.

"You're right, it is binding, so long as you keep your end of the deal. I'm curious as to what you're going to do about our…situation, as you called it."

Grim wasn't quite sure what to say. He hadn't really thought about it when he made the promise. "Mandy, even after all we've been through I don't want anyone other than you. You're my wife and I love you. I would never do anything to hurt you, even if I could."

"Is that a promise, Grim?"

"Do you want it to be?"

Mandy sat in silence for a moment, as though she was actually considering it. Grim wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Finally she got up out of the armchair. "It's late. We should get some sleep."

"Good idea. The sooner I sleep off this headache the better."

Mandy turned to walk out of the room, but before she did she said "By the way Grim…"

"Yes?"

"You're sleeping in my bed tonight."

All words escaped him. "I…I am?"

"Is that a problem?" Mandy asked.

"No…no problem at all…"

…

It was a few hours after midnight. The only ones left awake were the night watch and Grim. He'd fallen asleep at his desk so many times that he'd nearly forgotten what sleeping in a soft bed was like. Even more so in this room and by this woman.

He and Mandy didn't intentionally avoid sleeping together. It's just that for so many nights he'd be busy with all his paperwork or Mandy was busy working on some new project that it became a rarity. Eventually it just became her room and Grim would sleep in another room when he finished with work, as not to disturb her sleep (that, and the last time he snored she chucked his head out the window and down the cliff (his body had been unusually well-rested the next morning)).

Grim turned his head slightly to see his wife, the sleeping beauty with her arm around his ribcage, the sheet being the only thing to cover the modesty of the two.

"_What are you planning, Mandy?"_

No one truly knows what goes through Mandy's head, this is a fact. Her mind is an endless vortex of darkness too complex to be understood by anyone but her. Her mind lets slip no secrets. The one who knows her best (which isn't saying much) is her husband for the sole reason is that he has known her the longest. And while there is much about her that he will never truly understand, there is one thing he knows for sure about her, and that is that she does not reward loyalty. She expects it (and God help anyone who betrays her).

This…letting Grim share her bed and do [none of your damn business, that's what!] with her…it was completely out of character and Grim's mind struggled to find any reason for it.

Was she worried he would leave her for Velma? He had already explained that he only wanted her and how binding he took his vows, so that couldn't be it.

Was it to prove her power over him? Prove that she could take him apart inside and out and still make him come crawling to her? Maybe. But while Mandy was cruel enough to do that she didn't usually feel the need to restate a point that was VERY clearly understood between them.

"_Does she just want to be with me tonight...?_

"…_No…that can't be it…"_

Grim turned his body so it was now facing Mandy. She barely stirred, her head still resting on his chest and the pillow. He placed his arms gently around her waist and back. She didn't protest. One good thing he supposed about her domineering personality, she wouldn't get passive aggressive or bottle things up when she got upset like some other women would. If he did something she didn't like, she would quickly make sure he knew. It made things easier.

Velma's words from the bar kept echoing through Grim's mind.

"_Why are you so compliant to letting Mandy control you like this?!"_

It was a question Grim had asked himself many times throughout the years. She'd manipulated and pushed him around ever since he'd first met her. Even after she'd set him free he found he was still in her power. And yet he kept coming back. Why did he love her when she never once said she loved him?

Mandy had asked him a similar question when he proposed. The answer he gave was that she made him a better Reaper because she brought out the absolute worst in him, which is true, but not the real answer of why.

A more complicated answer would be that Mandy made Death respectable again and that everyone's fear of her improved Grim's status in the underworld. A simpler answer would be what most people already suspect it is: just a case of Stockholm syndrome.

The real answer, which Grim would only admit to himself, was because of moments like these.

He knew it sounded pathetic. Heck, it probably was. But being Mandy's husband, Grim had seen what no one else ever will, which is all of Mandy, inside and out.

Yes, Mandy was usually unreadable to Grim just like everyone else. But there were moments, sometimes just the briefest of them, where Mandy showed something deeper than just anger and calculation. He'd seen nostalgia and compassion when they went to see Billy. He'd seen glimpses of softness appear when she held their son. And right now, in this bed, he could see her at peace. When she slept it was so hard to believe it was the same person. The demonic queen a restful beauty.

Grim was the only person in all of existence who was allowed this close to her and allowed to stay this close. Even Nergal Jr had been kicked out of the room after Mandy got what she needed. There was a place, a place that solely belonged to Mandy, which she reserved for him and him alone to be with her.

It was these moments that he could almost convince himself that she loved him. That she screwed others only to get the children she wished she could have with him. That she hadn't allowed him to join her in this bed because of some unknown motive, but because just like him, she didn't want to be with anyone else.

Delusional? Yes, but still nice.

Grim believed with all his heart that the day the sands run out in his hourglass Mandy will be the one who caused it. There was no other way he could imagine it. He knew her that well at least. And every day he spent with her Mandy was a step closer to figuring out how to do the impossible and kill Death. He didn't know how and he didn't know why, but he knew it would happen. Because he could see the plan endlessly forming in her head. For her to rule eternal over all, no one will be left to oppose her, and that includes him.

That future in mind and the pain of the past still ringing in his ears, were moments like these really worth it?

"_Apparently I think so."_ Were Grim's last thoughts as he snugged up to his wife and feel asleep.

**I would really like reviews for this chapter as I'm really unsure about how well it turned out. Thank you.**


	6. Night of minor fright

**Night of minor fright**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The eyes of Grim and Mandy shot open and both bolted out of the bed, knowing the sound of their own son's scream. Grim grabbed his scythe from the wall and ran down the hall to Junior's room, following behind Mandy, whom was already far ahead of him in a pink bathrobe.

She broke down the door and held the gun straight out in front of her to scope out the room. Grim rushed in soon after to see the quivering mass of sheets on top of the bed.

Grim rushed over to his son. "Junior! What's wrong?!"

Junior held onto his covers tightly, not wanting to come out. "T-there was a-a mons-ster…" He sniffled. "He-he kept scaring me! He wouldn't go away!"

Grim looked around the room but saw no sign of anyone else. "You must have had a bad dream, son."

"It was no dream." Mandy stated. Grim looked over to her and Junior even peeked out from under his sheets. She was holding a flimsy bit of light blue paper. "This is Warpfly paper. It catches any particles or powder caused by teleportation and changes color. They're placed throughout the castle in case of intruders. Something teleported in here and when Junior alerted the castle it teleported out."

"Who would be foolish enough to break into the castle when we're all here?" Grim asked.

"We'll know soon enough. The lab can analyze what the paper collected and tell us exactly what got in here."

Lord Pain then came rushing into the room, breathing heavily. "Masters! I heard the young master's fright! Is everything ok?!"

"You're late, Charles." Mandy scolded him. "Given your rank I expect perfect performance from you and nothing less."

Pain fell to his hands and knees. "A thousand apologies, my master. I shall start my penance at once, starting with a thousand and one lashings!"

"Your punishment can wait. Get this to the lab now to be analyzed. And then check Minnie's room. Make sure nothing got in there."

Pain bowed to her and quickly ran off with the paper, eager to not fail his master again.

"Once the lab results come back we can use the scythe to track down whoever was in here." Mandy said. She was about to leave the room when she heard a small "Mom?"

She looked over the Grim Jr, still partially hiding under the sheets. "What is it?"

"Can I…can I sleep with you and dad tonight? Please?"

"You're old enough to sleep by yourself, Junior. But I will be placing guards inside your room just in case.

"But I'm scared. Please?"

Grim looked over to Mandy, honestly curious as to what she'd do.

Mandy sighed. "Alright, but just for tonight. Is that clear? This is NOT going to become a habit, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Junior said.

Mandy took a moment. "Alright. Then go to our room and go to bed. We'll be there soon."

Put at ease, Grim Jr got up from the bed and quickly made his way to his parent's (Mandy's) room. Grim couldn't help but smile a little to himself. _"Something that no one else will ever see."_

Mandy lead the way out of the room. She talked with Grim down the hall, eager to avoid acknowledging her change of heart a moment ago.

"I can think of two, maybe three people tops who would have access to the magic and technology needed to have a chance of getting into here. One is you and the other two are still recovering from my siege of the Underworld. I don't see how anyone else could have gotten through."

"Though I suppose it could have been that the intruder wasn't deemed a threat and that's how they got in." Grim added. "Remember, the shields guard against what it recognizes as a potential threat to the personnel inside. Whoever it was could have been someone with impressive teleportation abilities but who would also be killed instantly by any of the castle's inner defenses."

"Who the hell could possibly be that worthless to get past the design flaw and so stupid that they'd still break in here despite tha-…do you hear something?"

Grim listened quietly. He could hear the faint noise of bottles brushing up against each other. The two followed the noise to the kitchen, illuminated by the light of the open fridge. Grim flicked the lights on and the figure raiding the fridge quickly stood up in surprise. A very familiar blue figure in a fez whom Grim had grown to thoroughly despise over the years.

"Boogie!"

Boogie quickly swallowed the turkey leg he'd been eating to clear his throat. "Grim old buddy! How nice to see you again." He said. Then Mandy caught his attention. "Ooh, and hello your highness. My…you've grown well since last time. In all the right areas." He added, eyes gliding from head to toe (staying in place at some spots longer than others).

Not one to like having his wife ogled at Grim quickly pushed Boogie out of the fridge to get his attention. "What the hell do you think you're doing in my house?!"

"What? Can't a guy just pop in to say hello to two old friends?" Boogie asked, conjuring up a carton of zombie milk to drink.

"We've never been friends, Boogie, and I thought that after what happened last time you would have gotten it through your head that you shouldn't mess with me!" Grim shouted, his anger rising as Boogie continued to casually drink his milk unfazed.

"Yes well, our little adventure is actually what I wanted to talk to you two about." Boogie said. "You see, after you caused Horror's Hand to show me my worst fear, my reputation went straight down the toilet. No one was scared of me anymore because of you, not even when my amnesia went away. You cost me my position as the scariest being in the Underworld and I'm here to reinstate my title."

Grim chuckled to himself over Boogie's incredible self-delusion. "Boogie, Horror's Hand wasn't even turned on when you grabbed it." He explained. "You weren't seeing your worst fear; you were just never scary to begin with.

"LIAR!" Boogie yelled, throwing the carton into the wall in anger, just barely missing Grim's head. "I was always scarier than you, but you always got what should have been mine! I would have been the Grim Reaper if it wasn't for you stopping my cheating! I would have gotten Horror's Hand if you hadn't interfered! I want what I'm owed!"

Grim held the scythe in front of himself, prepared to fight. "You want my power, Boogie? What makes you think that'll make people find you any scarier when they don't find you scary to begin with?"

"Even in the time I've been here tonight I've proved that people still fear The Boogieman!"

"So I suppose it's reasonable to assume you were the one scaring Junior then?" Mandy said, startling Grim and Boogie, whom had been so wrapped up in their feud they'd forgotten she was there.

Boogie calmed slightly and adjusted his sweater smugly. "Well, when I first teleported in here I was just going to invade your dreams, Grim. But then I saw that you had kids and I figured, hey, why not start a family tradition? I'll tell you Grim, that kid is definitely your son. I had so much fun tormenting that kid that it reminded me of the good ol-"

BANG!

Mandy had proceeded to shoot Boogie in the face. Several times.

Only due to being a living nightmare had Boogie survived the initial assault, his powers reforming is face quickly.

"Ow! OWWWW!" Boogie griped. "You shot me! In the middle of my gloating monologue! Who does that?!"

Mandy then proceeded to shoot at him again, the bullets only missing their target due to Boogie teleporting around the kitchen.

"An action against my child is an action against me. Your life is forfeit." Mandy said, continuing to fire her barrage at the Boogieman. The skilled ex-assassin left no room for error, as no matter where Boogie teleported around the room he nearly always took a bullet. Even he couldn't hold out forever.

Boogie then began to grab everything in the kitchen he could and teleported it at Mandy, in hopes of crushing her under the cabinets and refrigerators. But she dodged each bulky item with ease, her trained eyes always being able to spot wherever Boogie teleported to so she could shoot him again.

Grim rushed in to aid his wife, but, being nowhere near as agile as her, was soon flattened underneath the spice cabinet and broke apart.

_"This is not my proudest moment."_

The scythe had fallen to the floor next to him, which was the opportunity Boogie had been waiting for. He quickly dived to the floor and grabbed the scythe. Unfortunately for him, Mandy had grabbed the scythe at the same moment. Instinct guided his mind as he saw the barrel of Mandy's gun fast approaching him. Boogie teleported away without the weapon, leaving Mandy and Grim alone in the destroyed kitchen.

Mandy's eyes shifted around the room for minutes until she was sure Boogie had truly left. She went over to her husband and kicked the cabinet off him.

"Pull yourself together, Bonehead. You look pathetic."

Unable to argue with her statement, Grim pieced himself together in silence. When he was whole once more Mandy handed him back his scythe.

"He had my scythe in his hands. Why didn't he take it with him?" Grim asked.

"His power has limitations." Mandy explained. "When he tries to teleport an object with him he also takes along whatever is in contact with said object. If he'd teleported with the scythe I would have gone with too and he'd have another bullet in his brain right now."

Grim's wife never stopped amazing him. "Wow. I knew you studied up on all the Underworld residence, but I didn't think you'd bother with someone as low a threat as Boogie."

"Like I've told you before, even the smallest scrap of information can have its uses. Case in point." Mandy said as she rang the bell to call in her servants to clean up the mess. "Clearly we're going to have to improve the castle's defenses. The Boogieman was such a low threat that they didn't even register his presence. This is a hole in security that we can't allow to be exploited again."

"Agreed. Thankfully it seems that Boogie didn't do too much damage."

Both than heard yelling approaching from down the hall.

"MAAAAASSSSSSTTTTTTEEEEERRRRRSSSSS!"

Lord Pain then burst into the room and groveled at Mandy's feet.

"Please punish me, my masters! The worst you can imagine! I deserve no less for my failure to serve you!"

Lord Pain had begged punishment before for what most would deem minor errors, but never to this extent. Something really was wrong.

"Charles, what happened?" Grim asked.

"The young master Minimandy! She has been kidnapped!"


	7. Confrontation

**Confrontation**

"I sent the samples to the lab as ordered and then I went to the young master's room." Lord Pain explained. "She was still asleep in her crib so I stood guard in case the intruder came by. But then the master's old nemesis The Boogieman teleported into the room. I tried to take his head off with my mace, but then he teleported behind me and…poured hot sauce down my trousers… When I finally regained my senses I saw the fiend teleport away with the young master."

Lord Pain stayed groveling at Mandy's feet, awaiting punishment. Mandy, interestingly enough, did not seem to be thinking about his punishment at the moment.

"The Boogieman has officially upgraded from annoyance to pest." She said in her usual collected manner. "The lab should be finishing with the analysis soon. Once they're done we can track him wherever he goes. If he thinks he's going to get away with harassing my household then I'm going to have to prove him sorely mistaken."

"Finally, payback time." Grim exclaimed, conjuring his black robe around himself, as it was clear he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.

"I was referring to myself and the children, Grim. Not you." Mandy stated as they walked towards the lab.

"You don't have to be so harsh about it." Grim said. "I'm just saying that Boogie's put me through a lot over the years and I'm glad that maybe we'll finally take care of this problem."

"Grim, Boogie should never have become this big of a problem!" Mandy said angrily. "He's a worthless worm with delusions of importance. That's it. We should be constantly stepping on people like him without even noticing. But because you never did anything about him he just kept on pushing his luck until he finally pissed off the wrong person."

"We did do something about him, remember?" Grim said. "The problem is that his amnesia wore off."

"I mean doing something a bit more permanent."

"You mean kill him?"

"You are the Grim Reaper. You have the power, so I'm honestly surprised you haven't done it yet." Mandy said.

They arrived at the lab. "You think that the moment I took this job that I didn't immediately check to see when Boogie was going to kick the bucket?" Grim asked. "Yes, I'm the Grim Reaper and with that comes rules and restrictions I have to follow. I can't just axe off anyone I feel like, no matter how much I want to."

Mandy just stared at him with disbelief and pity. "You're one of the most powerful beings in the Underworld and yet you constantly let yourself be pushed around by anyone who thinks they're better than you. No wonder Boogie thought he could get away with kidnapping your daughter."

"Minnie is not my daughter!"

"But Boogie thinks she is! That's why he took her. He's likely going to demand something from you using her as a hostage. He wants the powers of the Grim Reaper and he's convinced he'll get it because the one person who can give it to him is a spineless wuss who won't do anything to stop him."

"Now you listen here, you-!"

CRASH!

Grim and Mandy had both jumped back as a huge rock had just been teleported above some of the lab's machines and fell right onto them. The lab's scientists scattered everywhere to try and salvage what was left of the crushed mainframe and maybe try to move the rock.

Mandy's fingers squeezed between her eyes. "Let me guess…that was the section where the Warpfly paper was being analyzed."

"Yes my queen." Said one of the scientists. "Also we found this note attached to the rock."

Mandy took the note and Grim read it over her shoulder.

"Bring the scythe to me at Sorrow's Swamp within the hour or you'll near see her again.

Yours truly, The Boogieman."

Mandy took a moment to glare at Grim before ordering the servants to repair the lab immediately. Grim decided to stay out of her way given the mood Boogie was putting her into. Walking around the lab though, he noticed something small scurrying across the floor. He reached down to catch it, finding it to be a small beetle. Anywhere else this wouldn't have been anything unusual, but in Castle Grimskul there should be no insects whatsoever. Most animals large and small tended to avoid Death's domain out of instinct and Mandy had the servants take strict measures against pests, especially in the lab. The beetle must have been teleported in with the rock. Meaning it came from wherever Boogie was hiding out before going to the swamp.

Grim stoked his chin. The bug had given him an idea of where Boogie could be hiding out. It was a longshot of course. Insects are found literally everywhere so it could just be a coincidence. But if there was one person that Boogie could turn to who'd be willing to help, it would be that loathsome creature.

He had a hunch. One which he believed it was better not to bother Mandy about should it be wrong.

Mandy was busy re-entering information when she heard the familiar shing of Grim's scythe. She turned her head around just in time to see Grim entering the portal, which quickly closed behind him.

…

"Roar!" Boogie yelled at the child in his werewolf form.

Minnie just stared at him.

"Roar!" Boogie yelled at the child in his Freddy Kruger form.

Minnie continued to stare at him.

"ROAR!" Boogie yelled at the child in the form of his 9th grade English teacher.

Minnie continued to stare at him in confusion.

"What's the matter with this kid?!" Boogie said as he reverted back to his normal form. "I had her brother nearly peeing his pants by this point and he's a skeleton!"

"I'm telling you, man, you got to use the bugs. Bugs always get a shriek out of people." The Oogie Boogie man said.

"But I don't want to use the bugs. The bugs are your thing."

"Well so's torture, but that's never stopped you."

Boogie thought about it for a minute. "I suppose you have a point there. Though I think of that as more of an entertainment source than a scare source."

"Whatever you say, man." Oogie said, eyeing the small child. "You know, we plotted this for months, so I can't help but wonder how you left to steal the scythe and ended up coming back to my lair with a child."

"Things got…hectic." Boogie said. "But don't worry, I'm still going to get the scythe. Heck, this exchange might be an even better way to do it. Not only will I get the power, but I'll prove that I'm the superior monster next to Grim. The Boogieman: the one who beat Death and made him cry!"

"Just don't forget your end of our deal." Oogie reminded him.

"Don't worry, my grotesque friend, I haven't forgotten." Boogie said gleefully. "You helped me regain my mojo and figured out that only I could bypass Grim's security. Now I can repay you. Once I have the power I'll help you take down Halloweentown. I can picture it now: me, the Boogie Reaper, and you, the true King of Halloween. With the two of us finally on top where we belong, there will be no undies left unsoiled! No person ever daring to take a light snooze, in fear that we'll be there!"

Both obnoxious creatures of the night laughed loudly, their cackling bouncing throughout the lair.

Oogie was the first to stop laughing enough to talk. "Though I look forward to seeing the look on Boneman's face when he sees me taking charge of his town, a though occurs. What if they don't make the exchange?"

"Oh they will." Boogie explained smugly. "Keep in mind that this kid isn't just Grim's daughter but Mandy's as well and from what I've heard there are two things that haven't changed in all the years I've been gone. 1. Mandy doesn't like to lose and 2. Grim is still her little lapdog. He'll do whatever she tells him to and she'd much rather force Grim to give up something of his than to lose something of hers."

"I don't know, man. You were still regaining your memory when she started taking power. From what I've heard Mandy doesn't negotiate, period, given what she did to Hades' realm when he tried to convince her to back off."

"Oogie, relax." Boogie said throwing his arm over his ally's shoulder. "I've got this all figured out. Of course Mandy's going to have some of her goons waiting for me at the exchange. That's why I picked the Swamp of Sorrows. I can teleport in and out of there no problem, but for anyone else it's an almost literal nightmare. I'd have such a terrain advantage that I might even just be able to grab the scythe before anyone knows I'm there. I might not even have to give the kid back. Talk about a double whammy!"

"I still think it would have been better if you'd just stolen the scythe like we planned."

"Don't worry, Oogie, I've got every eventuality planned out."

The scythe portal then opened up across the room.

"…Except for if they should find us here."

Boogie then grabbed Minnie and handed her to Oogie. "Quick, take the kid and hide somewhere! I'll try to keep them distracted!"

Oogie took the girl and ran off to a nearby room, shouting "Don't you betray me, Boogie!" behind him.

Boogie was already mentally preparing his speech to blame everything on Oogie when he was surprised to see that only Grim exited the closing portal.

"Grim? Oh, thank goodness! For a moment there I thought I was actually going to see someone intimidating."

Grim, not allowing Boogie to taunt him, asked "Where's the girl, Boogie?"

"Girl? What girl?" Boogie asked playing dumb. "Oh! Grim…did you come here hoping that I'd have some fine female friends for you? The old bat too much for you now, so you're hoping to have someone younger to play "Hide the groin bone" with?"

Grim grabbed Boogie by the collar. "I'm not playing games with you, Boogie! Where is she?!"

"Ok! Ok!" Boogie exclaimed. "I'll take you to her."

Grim slowly let go of his collar. "I'm sorry about all this, Grim." Boogie said, looking to the floor. "I guess I was just jealous of you. I mean, you've got the hot wife, the kids, the castle, the highest ranking position in the Underworld. I guess I just wished that I could have that. Maybe after all this time, all I really wanted was…love and…a family."

Boogie looked up to Grim with big pleading, watery eyes. "Will you…be my family, Grim?"

Grim looked at him for a moment. "Boogie…shut up and take me to Minnie already."

Boogie dropped the act. "You heartless bastard. I get people sobbing at that story. You didn't even tear up!"

"Now, Boogie!"

The Boogieman sighed and led Grim to one of the doors, though not the one Oogie had gone through. Grim pushed Boogie out of the way, not wanting Boogie to pull any tricks. Boogie watched internally gleeful as Grim reached for the handle. He knew that behind the door was a massive cannon built just a situation like this. The moment Grim opened the door he'd be blown away.

Grim was about to turn the handle and make all of Boogie's wishes come true when suddenly:

"Da-da!" went Minnie's voice from somewhere.

Grim quickly turned to try and find the source of the voice.

Boogie sweat a little. "I'm sure it was nothing."

"Da-da!" went the child voice again.

Followed by Oogie shouting "Will you be quiet already?!"

"Da-da."

"Hey! Don't grab my strings!"

"Da-da."

"Why you little-!"

Oogie soon came bursting through another door, carrying Minnie who was pulling the string on one of Oogie's arms. She didn't know she was impeding him. She was just an infant having fun playing with some strange sack-man she found.

Oogie then realized where he was.

"Oops."

Grim tossed a quick glare at Boogie before running towards Minnie and Oogie.

Boogie thought fast of some way to still win when he saw one of the title buttons Oogie had installed on the floor.

With a smile on his face Boogie stepped on the button. If there was one thing he loved about Oogie's house, it was the entertainment system.

The button caused the floor to rotate in different directions at incredible speeds, taking Grim away from Minnie. Pendulums dropped from the ceiling. Gunslingers and Jackpot machine popped out of the walls and began shooting at Grim.

Oogie laughed loudly. "Good thinking, partner."

Boogie beamed triumphantly. "You get the girl out of here. I'll take care of him."

Oogie started climbing upwards towards the nearest exit.

"No!" Grim exclaimed as he jumped onto his scythe to fly at Oogie.

"Oh no you don't!" Boogie yelled as he stepped on another title button, causing cannons to pop up from the floor and fire at the airborne Reaper (Oogie had made sure that Boogie knew about the hidden traps during his time there (except for the mousetrap in the milk carton. That was an opportunity he just couldn't pass up)).

Grim dodged the cannonballs as best he could, but the scythe was not exactly meant to be used for flying so it didn't handle well. The best he could do was to use the scythe to block the balls he couldn't dodge, though the force of which would continually knock him off course.

Boogie however was a novice to the cannon firing system and ended up shooting in more random directions than just at his enemy. One ball even hit a wall just a foot away from Oogie's head.

"Hey, watch it! You almost hit me with tha-!"

Oogie was interrupted by a cannonball taking off one of his arms. The same arm Minnie had been playing, who was now falling to the ground screaming.

"MINNIE!" Grim cried, subconsciously surprised by his genuine fear for the child's life. He dived straight for the child, going faster of the scythe than ever before, catching her just before she would've hit the ground. Minnie sobbed loudly in Grim's arm.

"It's…ok, Minnie. I…I've got you. It's ok." Grim said holding the girl closely.

Boogie was infuriated given that it looked like Grim was going to win, but then he remembered what door he was next to.

Boogie grasped the handle. "Nice catch, Grim! Here's your door-prize!" He yelled as he swung open the door, causing Grim to stare down the muzzle of the massive cannon.

"Oh crap."

Grim took the full direct hit, causing him to explode violently. Minnie and the scythe went flying in different directions, with her being caught by Oogie and the scythe hitting the floor.

With the crying Minnie in his one good arm while his bugs attempted to fix his other, Oogie hit the off switch to the room, shutting down the contraptions.

"Well that was more fun than I've had in a while." He commented.

Boogie wasn't paying attention to his ally, as he picked up the scythe in almost utter disbelief.

"It's…it's over…!" Boogie exclaimed. "We did it! I won! I destroyed Grim! I destroyed Death! No...Now I am Death! Now, the Boogie Reaper regains supreme!"

Grim's loud deep echoing laughter then startled the two fiends, though causing Minnie to stop crying.

"The Boogie Reaper? Really? You're still going with that?" Grim's voice mocked from out of nowhere.

Boogie's hands trembled slightly. "Grim? Where are you?!"

Winds then rushed past Oogie and Boogie as shards of bone and scraps of cloth came back together again to reform the Grim Reaper, with a rather smug smile on his face.

"Da-da!" Minnie said.

Boogie pointed the scythe at Grim. "Stay back! I know how to use this!"

Grim's expression didn't change. "Oh really? Well then, by all means, show us what you've got."

Boogie only hesitated for a split second before firing a blast from the scythe at Grim. At least, that was what was supposed to happen. Instead all that came out was a puff of smoke. Grim continued with his smug expression.

Confused, Boogie fired again and again at Grim, each time just ending up with smoke.

"I-I-I don't understand! Why isn't this working?!" Boogie yelled, still failing to blast Grim.

Grim laughed at Boogie yet again. "Did you really think that after all these years I wouldn't have found some way to keep people from stealing my scythe?" He asked.

"But-but…! But it's worked for other people before! Why is it not working now?!" Boogie stuttered.

"I realized a while ago that the scythe and Reaper are deeply connected." Grim explained. "Billy and Mandy broke me, repeatedly, mentally and physically, over and over for years until I felt that I wasn't worthy my own title. Of course the lowest of the low could use it when I felt I was even lower than that. Now there is only one person in all of existence who can take it from me and command its power. And believe me, you are nowhere near her level."

Boogie's mind raced to salvage some shard of victory. "But-but-but I still have your scythe! HA! In your face! Without this you're powerless!"

Grim casually held out his hand. The scythe moved on its own, shaking in Boogie's hands until he finally was forced to let go as the weapon flew back to its master.

"Uhhhh…."

"The scythe is power." Grim said. "But a true Reaper is even more than you can imagine."

Boogie raised his finger to show that he had something to say…

…And then quickly dove to hit the title button again.

The moment he did Grim struck the center of the floor with the blade of the scythe, creating blinding light and causing the entire building to quake. As structures and mechanics began to fall Oogie took the kid and ran for it.

"Oogie! Don't leave me here, you coward!" Boogie cried.

"I'll deal with him in a minute." Grim said. "But right now I'm focused on dealing with you once and for all!"

Boogie nearly screamed and would have started begging for mercy had he not realized he was still near the door-cannon.

Boogie hit the door closed and quickly reopened it again, causing that cannon to fire once more at Grim. Though this time he was quite ready for it, as he swung the scythe dead-on with the projectile, causing a massive explosion that sent Boogie flying backwards and causing most of the lair to crumble on top of the area.

…

Boogie had been knocked out for bit before regaining consciousness. He tried to make his way through what little room there was left in the ruins of Oogie's lair, too weak to teleport at the moment.

Though having been tossed around badly, Boogie still beamed triumphantly as he said "Well, I still beat you, Grim."

As Boogie tried to keep moving he thought that maybe some more rubble must have fallen as it got slightly darker. Then he realized the darkness was coming from behind him.

Boogie turned around and saw the tall cloaked figure of his enemy casting a long dark shadow upon him.

Boogie sighed. "Ok, Grim, I give up. Honestly this time. No more tricks, I swear."

Grim glided silently towards him, not saying a word.

"Grim? Come on. When a guy surrenders the least you can do is say something. Maybe offer him lift back to the surface?"

Grim approached still.

Boogie got nervous. "Grim, come on, say something! I mean, you're trying to give off such an ominous atmosphere but, really, what more can we do here? I mean, what're you going to do? Kill me?"

Grim approached still, each second causing Boogie to see his own reflection clearer and clearer in the scythe's blade.

Boogie was definitely freaked now. "Now-now Grim think this through!" He stuttered. "You-you're the Grim Reaper! You know there are going to be people who-who will take issue if you just go around killing people you don't like, right? You're a reasonable enough guy! I'm sure we can work this out without getting drastic!"

Grim finally stopped, just close enough so that Boogie could make-out the face of Death.

"Grim?" Boogie whimpered.

A smile slowly etched its way across Grim's face. A smile that he hadn't made since he had first come to claim the soul of Mister Snuggles. The exact smile he'd made before he ever heard the names Billy and Mandy. A smile which had far more meaning now than ever before.

"Grim?"

SHING!

…

Ooogie finally emerged topside from the rubble of his former home, carrying the giggling Minimandy who had been quite amused by the destruction.

Oogie wiped his forehead and started talking to himself. "Alright, I just need to get outta here and cut my losses! Maybe sell the kid to the circus. I might be able to get something out of this if I do that. I just need to get outta here before he finds me!"

"Da-da!"

"That's right, before your daddy finds…oh no."

Oogie turned around to find Grim towering over him. With no traps left to fight back with at the moment the bugman's instinctive fear of Death took over, as he couldn't find the nerve to speak or move.

Grim let the mood sink in for a moment before holding out his arm. "The girl."

Oogie quickly handed Minnie over to Grim, the child giggling as she held onto his robes. For just a second Grim's face softened before reverting back to the ominous stone-face facing Oogie.

"Now then, what to do about you?" Grim asked rhetorically. "I don't really know how much you had to do with Boogie's little plan. Frankly I don't care. I haven't heard many good things about you in general and now I find you knee deep in a plot to steal my power and my kid. Things aren't looking good for you, Oogie."

"It-it was all Boogie's idea!" Oogie stuttered. "I would never dream of-!"

"However…" Grim interrupted, causing Oogie to instantly go silent. "Since I'm in a VERY good mood right now…I going to cut you a break."

Oogie sighed the sigh of relief.

…Which was cut short when Grim held the scythe up to Oogie's neck. "But heed this warning!" Grim said darkly. "And make sure to tell every little pest and vermin that you know to heed it as well. You mess with my family, then you're going to end up a lot worse than reaped! Everyone already knows what happens when they mess with Mandy and Jack is a big boy who can take care of himself. But if anyone thinks that they can harm my family through me then they've got another thing coming. You hear me: the Family Grim is off limits!"

Oogie nodded his head quickly as he could. "Of course, Mr. Reaper! What-whatever you say!"

Grim stared down Oogie for another moment before, finally, he cut off Oogie's head, causing all his bugs to spill out.

"Crawl back into your hole, filth."

On that note, the bugs that made up the mind and body of Oogie Boogie scattered into the ruins of his lair.

Grim took a second to enjoy one of the few triumphs he'd had in years before remembering the giggling child looking up at him from his arm.

"Don't think this means I like you or anything." He said to her.

"Da-da."

"…Stop it…"

"Da-da!"

"Stop it, I hate your existence, remember?"

"…Da-da?"

_"…Dammit…"_

Grim sighed. "Let's go home, kiddo." He said as he swung his scythe to open the portal back to Castle Grimskul.

…

Grim exited back out into the lab, where Mandy was waiting for him.

"Just where the hell have you-?"

"Shhhhhh!"

Any other time Mandy would have knocked Grim's block off for shushing her. She only didn't this time because he pointed out the little girl whose eyelids were drooping as she started to fall asleep.

Mandy allowed her temperament to calm slightly. "How did you find her?"

"I had a hunch. I figured if I was wrong it'd be better not to waste your time with it."

"That, and since you've spent the entire night being emasculated you wanted to prove that you could at least do something right." She pointed out harshly.

"…Maybe."

Mandy looked at her daughter, who was lightly snoozing in Grim's arm. "Is the Boogieman going to be a problem anymore, Grim?"

"No. I took care of him. Neither he nor anyone else should be bothering us for a while. Though if you do notice any bugs snooping around let me know."

Mandy was a smart woman, so she already understood Grim's meaning. Though being Mandy, she wasn't going to show what she was thinking beyond that.

"Charles!" She demanded his presence.

Lord Pain ran to her and knelt down. "Yes, my master?!"

"As punishment for your failures tonight you are going to personally check all the castle's defenses. Any flaws, you get them fixed immediately. And I want this done before morning. Now."

Lord Pain was ecstatic. "Thank you, master!" He cried as he leapt out the window down the cliff to start his task.

"Even I think that was a little much." Grim said.

"If we didn't punish him properly we'd never here the end of his whining. Might as well get some use out of his punishment." Mandy said. "Now go put Minnie to bed. And unless there is any other crap that needs to happen tonight, I'm going to get some damn sleep."

…

Grim tucked the small child into her crib. The events of the night had greatly tired her out and she made no resistance to oncoming slumber, as she gently sank into her sheets.

He stayed and watched the child quietly for a few minutes. The irony of having concern over the child he for the longest time wished never existed had not escaped him.

Every day she lived he'd felt cheated and betrayed. There had been many times in his life that he longed for a family, but being Death made this unlikely to ever happen. Even when he finally gained a wife that still seemed like a fantasy, given who he married. So Mandy deciding she wanted to have his child was the happiest day of his life because it made that fantasy a reality. And Mandy deciding to have Nergal Jr's child was one of the worst of his life because it broke the fantasy. He hated Minnie for the same reason he'd hated Mandy: both had cost him the daughter he always wanted. The family he'd always wanted.

But now…

But now, he thought, maybe he hadn't been cheated.

Watching the child snooze, Grim said quietly "Say, next time you call me Da-da…could you do it in front of Nergal?"

Minnie stirred slightly and yawned, and then fell back to sleep.

"…That's my girl."

…

Grim returned to outside of Mandy's door.

He yawned heavily. _"I hope she'll still let me sleep in here tonight."_

He opened to door slowly and soon discovered he was glad that he did. On the bed laid Grim Jr, sound asleep with his head resting on his mother's lap. Mandy was sitting straight up in the bed, and to Grim's surprise, was also fast asleep. Her head was tilted back on the headboard and she looked as peaceful as Grim remembered her from earlier that night, though he took notice of her hand, gently placed atop Junior's head, as if protecting him in their slumber.

Grim smiled to himself and quietly closed the door behind him. He sat himself down in Mandy's desk chair, as not to awaken his family with his presence in the bed.

Sleeping in a chair for the rest of the night wouldn't be the most comfortable rest, but he cared little if he got any tonight.

If he fell asleep, he'd get some rest from the hecticness of the strange night.

If he didn't, then he'd get to enjoy this moment just a little bit longer.

**Mini-epilogue:**

In the ruins of Oogie's lair his bugs gathered. Everything around him was destroyed. The rebuilding would take years. But that was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. There was a thought that keep going through Oogie's head.

_"Boogie was wrong. The scythe helps, but it's the Reaper itself that holds the power of Death. Somehow, someway, I'll find my own little Reaper and I'll make their power mine! Someday, the power of the Grim Reaper is going to belong to the Oogie Boogie man!"_

_ "Someday..."_


	8. The Ruined Future

**The Ruined Future**

Mandy sat in her usual armchair in the living room flipping through the mail. It was mainly just the usual: letters of protest, The Daily Horror, death threats, another letter from King Kai demanding Grim get Billy the hell off his planet, bribes, letters of surrender, and a two-for-one ad at The Nasty Burger (no one dares to send the Family Grim bills).

While reading over Latveria's most recent political scandal she heard the familiar noise of her husband returning home through a scythe portal. Normal she would have cared little for Grim's return, but she noticed that it was hours past even the latest Grim would stay for work.

"What kept you, Bonehead?" She asked, not glancing up from her paper.

Grim did not respond.

"Grim?" she called again. He still didn't respond, which was unusual for him, given that he knew it was a bad idea to ignore her.

Finally she got up to go to the room of her husband's office, where he always ported to whenever he came back from work. There she found Grim, standing in the middle of the room, though just barely. He was shaking badly and seemed to be using the scythe to keep himself upright. He looked terrible, though the lack of any physical injury suggested it was something a bit more mental.

"Grim?" She asked again, to which, again, he did not respond. The pained look on his face showing that he might crack if he made the slightest movement on his own.

_"Something must have really shaken him."_ She thought to herself, as even in their darkest hours she'd never seen Grim like this.

She gently took Grim by the arm and slowly led him to his chair. While not known to be a kind or loving person Mandy was still smart enough to know when brute force would not give her what she wanted.

After sitting Grim down in his chair and taking his scythe from him and setting it on the desk she said "Alright Bonehead, what happened?"

It took him a moment but he finally was able to stutter it out.

"M-Megaville."

She should have known.

Mandy let Grim gather himself while she lit herself a cigarette.

Mandy had of course heard all about what Him was doing to Megaville. Apparently he'd discovered a key weakness in Megaville (a traitor perhaps?) and exploited it to its fullest to launch a massive crusade against the city and its heroes. The ongoing event had Grim working overtime every day, as the death toll continued to rise, with more and more of Mandy's old "friends" joining the pile. The slaughter got so bad that the city sent what request they could, begging for her help. To which she shocked everyone by refusing them aid.

Though it is known to few, Megaville actually does hold a small place in her heart. While Endsville was the first place she'd gained control over, Megaville was a city that held significance to her. Endsville was filled with idiots that Mandy could manipulate and destroy on a whim while Megaville had beings that could occasionally prove a challenge for her. So becoming mayor of such a place was no small feat, given that the City of Heroes elected the woman known as Evil Incarnate to be their leader. To her it was her first real proof to the world of what she was capable of. She enjoyed quite a successful term and had only left when Grim proposed to her, as now more than just places on Earth were available to her iron grip.

"So who died this time?" She asked.

"E-everyone." Grim said quietly. "Everyone. The entire city. It…it's gone."

Mandy continued to smoke. "I thought they would have lasted longer than this. I guess they were really counting on me to lend them a hand." She said, no regret or pity in her voice, simply stating her conclusion.

Grim stayed silent. His shaking had gone down slightly but his hands still stayed clenched around the armrests.

"Why is this getting to you so much, Grim? You're Death. You've seen hundreds of other empires horrifically fall in your time, why is this one so impactful on you? You never exactly were the very fond of most people there."

Grim had great difficultly saying what he had to next. "Do you…do yo-(cough)! Do you r-remember Blossom's l-little girl?"

"The one she had with Him? Mimi something?" Mandy recalled. "What, did Him kill her?"

"She killed her mother."

Mandy's cigarette fell from her mouth in surprise. Blossom was…killed? In the time Mandy had known her she recognized Blossom as the most balanced fighter of the three sisters and possibly the most powerful of Megaville's heroes. For her to have been killed by a child…her own child nonetheless…

"Explain." Mandy said as she regained her composure and put out the cigarette with her heel.

Grim needed another moment to talk, as the memory was something he'd rather not think about. "I…I'm not sure what he did to her. He…exposed her to something. I couldn't quite tell what it was from where I saw it. But I heard her. Her…screaming! I could see the agony tearing through her! Blossom tried to help but when she was finally able to reach the child, Mimi…she…"

Grim buried his face in his hands to deal with the memory. Mandy got the idea.

"Whatever he did…" Grim continued. "Him shattered the girl internally. I've never seen such dead eyes from any child…"

Grim and Mandy stayed silent for a moment until Grim was able to finish his story.

"When it was all over…Him strolled past where I was standing. I…was too stunned by what I'd seen. He didn't do anything. He just strolled past, only stopping once to…to…"

"To…?"

"…Ask if I would agree about what a lovely day it was."

Grim stopped talking for a bit while Mandy thought through the dramatic shift in events.

Finally, Grim said "I don't think we should take the kids to the mortal world for a while."

"I'm not going to hide them away, Grim."

"I know, I know…I just don't want them to deal with this…quite yet. Let the world rebuild a little bit from this tragedy before we push the kids into it."

It was quiet until Mandy spoke again.

"When you're rested enough, look into whatever it was that Him exposed his daughter to." She ordered. "I want to be ready in case he tries to pull anything."

"Yeah…no problem, M'dear."

Grim stayed seated, still lost in his memories of the horror, as Mandy left the room.

Mandy retired to her study and closed the door behind her, though not moving far from it as she stood silently near the end of the room. One thought out of many ringing clear in her mind.

_"Megaville has fallen. It's only a matter of time now."_


	9. Fate of the Queen

**Fate of the Queen**

10 years before it all started:

Tedgecus ran through the dark catacombs of the forgotten temple. He couldn't stop. He had to find her before the bride's forces found him.

It was only a few months ago that Tedgecus had been just a simple intern in the Realm of Hades, just doing his job for the lowest of the Greek Gods every day and then going home to his simple Underworld life.

He never would have imagined that he would be the last one everyone's hopes were riding on.

It was a few months and a day ago when the status quo was abruptly changed. The Grim Reaper had chosen a bride.

No one thought much about it when they heard the news, as Grim had become less of a respected figure in the Underworld's community and more the ultimate butt of a cruel cosmic joke. Really, the only thing that made people pay even the slightest attention to the news was the fact that the Reaper was in fact marrying the very woman whom had enslaved him for years.

Stockholm syndrome: the oldest joke in the universe. Everyone had a good laugh about it when they heard.

The next day people stopped laughing.

The next day was when Death's new queen Mandy announced that she was taking total control of the Underworld. Not even a snicker at the idea was heard as Mandy made this announcement and released her armies. They were given the simple choice of surrender or suffer. After the first few days people started to get the idea and backed off when they heard of her approaching forces.

The Underworld had always been such a chaotic place that it had been eons since they were bound tightly together under the grip of Death. Eventually people got used to it and grew content to spending their days under Mandy's rule. The Underworld had had a single ruler before, there was no reason it couldn't again.

But Mandy had not stopped at just the Underworld. Her mind for politics and strategy was great, so she knew well enough not to engage with the other four of the "Big Five" realms, but anything else was up for grabs. With great patience she started spreading her empire out and adding other lesser realms that no one else cared for, usually those with some direct connection to Death, such as Valhalla or the Netherrealm.

The most recent realm she was collecting was Hades. Hades' ruler, Hades, tried to make a deal with the Queen to share the power so that he wouldn't have to give up his little slice of the world and she'd still get some of it. She responded by having his jaw removed and placing him as the figurehead leader of the realm, to watch over it while she was busy.

Hades fell, just like the others did, but like with all takeovers there are rebels, and that's where Tedgecus comes into the picture. Tedgecus wasn't the ideal man for the job, he was just the only rebel left to complete it.

Before the rebels had been crushed by Mandy's forces they'd come up with a plan. Though Mandy had killed two of the three Fates, one still remained and it was rumored that she still had the eye. Given that the eye allowed the sisters to see the past and future Mandy likely had them taken out so they could not aid Hades in his resistance. But if one still remained, then that one could know Mandy's plans before she made them, thus how she was managing to escape the Queen's grasp for so long. If the rebels were able to find her, then they could use her to plan the takedown of Mandy. A task that only Tedgecus was left to complete. Even though his group had fallen, he knew that there'd be others to fight her, because there was no way Mandy was stopping her conquests anytime soon.

It had taken a while, but finally he'd managed to find where the rebel's deduced the last sister was hiding: the Forgotten Temple. Why was it the ideal place to hide? Because to one remembers where it is.

After a while of searching the catacombs, Tedgecus finally stumbled into the torch lit room of the remaining Fate.

"Great sister of fate, is it truly you I see before me?" he asked the old woman.

"You know any other old Greek hags with a removable eye, kid?" She asked back. "The correct answer would be yes. Three in total, and yes, I am one of them. The last of them."

Tedgecus could not hold back his excitement. "Great sister, you cannot know how much it means to me that I've found you!"

The Fate rolled her eye. "I know exactly how much it means to you, idiot. That's the entire reason why you've come for me in the first place."

Making a wise decision, Tedgecus decided to stop making an ass of himself and get to the point.

"Great sister, you who can see and influence time and space, please, you must tell me the weakness to the Bitch Queen Mandy!"

The Fate was silent for a moment before breaking out into a cackle. "Ahh, I saw that coming from a mile away and it still gets me every time." She said.

Tedgecus was confused. "I fail to see what's so funny."

The Fate explained herself. "Weakness? Something like an Achilles' heel or her own personal Kryptonite? Where you hoping that it would be something easy like that? Maybe frogs? Or Bon-bons?"

"Everyone has a weakness, so must she!"

"Yes…everyone has a weakness in some way, which Mandy herself has proven many times." The Fate said. "It conquering your realm and others Mandy didn't use any glowing rocks or trick arrows. She exploited all weaknesses she found in her enemies and brought them down by force and strategy. You think you can beat someone like that by doing any less?"

Tedgecus reluctantly had to agree with her. "Your words are true, but that still means you can help me to overthrow Mandy! Together with the other rebel forces that will come, we can divine the perfect strategy! One that she can't counter as her plans would be already known!"

The Fate was silent before speaking again. "It is possible to defeat the Queen. But it will not be done by you."

"Why not?"

"…Because you aren't leaving this temple alive."

Tedgecus attempted to question. An attempt that was cut short by the bullet cutting through his brain from behind. He was gone before his body hit the floor, never seeing that the shooter was the woman he sought to destroy.

"I was wondering when you'd get here." The Fate said, unfazed by the man's death she'd already foreseen.

"No, you weren't."

The Fate smiled at the queen. "You're right. I wasn't. And it's because of the same reason why I wasn't wondering that I know that you aren't going to kill me yet."

"And why is that?"

"Because you're curious as to what I have to say."

Mandy lowered her gun, not taking her eyes off the hag.

The Fate continued. "You're curious as to what I have to say because I can see your future, Mandy. It's because my sisters and I could see the future that we were able to influence it to suit our desires better. So in my last moments, what will I say to you, the woman who is to be my end? The words of fate are always honest, though deceiving if need be. Even the smallest scrap of information can have its uses, though who will be using the knowledge in this case? Will my final words save you from some far off catastrophe? Or will they allow me to strike you down from whatever grave I end up in? Fancy a gamble, Mandy?"

The Fate took Mandy's silence as an acceptance.

"People tend to have misconceptions about how the future-sight works. The future is ever changing. There's never been one straightforward timeline to follow, just many infinitely branching ones. The sight shows us these futures and shows the one we currently head towards. And I've seen all the possibilities you've passed to get here, Mandy.

"I've seen you as another Earthly dictator. As a hideous worm-like creature. As a happy woman who chose love over conquest (my God, you got fat). And I see you as you are now and the future you head towards, and everything that possibly leads to. And do you know what the most likely thing to happen in your future?"

Mandy continued to listen, her unreadable poker-face never failing.

The Fate answered for her. "You cause Armageddon, Mandy. No surprise to you I'm sure, though I doubt you grasp the full scope of it. Everything you ever knew and loved ends, forever, because of you. And you do have things you love, you just don't show it. Or…won't show it, anyway.

"I see the war you will start. With who? It doesn't really matter. You'll drag everyone else into it anyway. It'll be your big showstopper, the one you've been planning long since before you came to see me. I see the children that will be torn apart before and after it starts. I see the alliances that will be broken and the faiths questioned. I see the realms you leave in ruin behind you, ruins that will spawn warriors to combat you. …They do not last long. Save for one…perhaps he can inflict upon you a fate similar to that of one you once knew. One whose end comes at the hand of one she dares not suspect. Her heart could not bare it if it were true. Will not.

"Though even this warrior you'll have plenty of opportunities to strike down before he ever becomes a threat. All I know for sure is that it all begins when the great city falls…"

Mandy showed no change in her unreadable expression, so The Fate decided to finally finish her prophecy.

"There is only one thing that might stop you. One key thing. And it's something you yourself realized not too long ago."

Mandy still showed no change, but the surrounding atmosphere seemed to shift ever so slightly.

The Fate got a bit giddier. "I can't tell if it is ironic or just poetic. The very thing that has brought you this far to be your undoing. Had you not been there that fateful day when your friend's hamster was to move on, your conquests would never have gotten you this far. If only the foolish error had not been made, you would not be in the position to one day destroy us all.

"But, what's done is done, and what's to happen is what's to happen. For despite your power, Mandy, even you are not exempt from the greatest, most simple rule of all: the only thing that truly ends life…is…Death!"

On the last word Mandy shot the Fate through her eye, silencing her at last. Leaving the Queen alone in the quiet darkness of the catacombs.

**Mini-epilogue:**

Mandy sat on her chair, having returned from the temple. No one had known where she went and thus no one suspected what she'd learned. When the time came she'd tell people that she killed the last Fate, as the news would certainly result in surrender of the many factions not wishing to mess with the woman whom had conquered both Death and Fate.

The rest of the story had no reason to ever be told.

So deep in thought she was almost startled when her husband entered the room.

"Hey Mandy, I need to head out for a bit."

"Where are you off to?" She asked, her curiosity peaked.

Grim eyed the letter he'd been carrying while he spoke. "Oh, it's just Billy again. I thought Walker might have been able to handle him, but apparently not even an indestructible ghost jail is enough to keep up with him. Walker wants him out."

Remembering Billy's destructive escapades from their childhood, Mandy wasn't too surprised.

"I'll see you later, M'dear." Grim said as he kissed the top of his wife's head as she waved him along.

However a moment later…

"Grim?"

"Hmm?"

Mandy stood up from her chair. "Why don't you hold off for a few minutes? I think I'll come with you this time."

**Thank you all for reading this to the end. I'm not sure how good the overall story is but I kinda like how the ending turned out. But this is a fanfic, so I'm eager to hear what other fans or even non-fans of ****Grim Tales**** think of this, so please post a review telling me what you thought of it. Whether you liked it or hated it it's good to hear more than just my own opinions. And if you liked it, please check out my sorta sequel story to this, called ****Grim Tales: End of Reign****. Thank you.**

**I wanted to do this fanfic mainly because of two things. One is that I wanted to show Grim and Mandy as parents, given their unusual situation. And the other is because of something I found very interesting in Bleedman's story, which was Mandy being immortal because Grim won't reap her soul. Given that she's still immortal in marriage I assume that's still the reason why. So I came up with the theory that Mandy can't be killed by anything except Grim. And she's smart enough to figure this out so I can't help but wonder what she'd do with that knowledge. In the comic I always she her as a plotter with always making everyone work to her advantage and I always wonder how much she knows about what's going on.**

**By the way, the Fates and Hades are both from ****Disney's Hercules****, for the simple reason of ****Grim Tales**** being a world of animated characters and these were the only (good) versions of them that I know of.**


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